Fred Brathwaite — aka ‘Fab 5 Freddy’ — is a pioneering multimedia artist credited with bringing hip hop to the mainstream in the 1980s. His new memoir Everybody’s Fly looks back at Brathwaite’s life in New York, beginning when art forms like rap, graffiti, breakdance, and DJ remained mostly underground. In today’s episode, Brathwaite joins NPR’s Adrian Ma to discuss his inspiration behind the memoir, and how his widespread artistic collaborations throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s synthesized culture and propelled it forward.

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In Sarvat Hasin’s novel Strange Girls, a Pakistani woman and an American woman meet at a London-based university in the 2010s. There, they quickly become close, bonding over a shared dissatisfaction with the definition of femininity available to them. In today’s episode, Hasin joins NPR’s Juana Summers for a conversation about the intense relationship that forms between the two protagonists, the way friendships can be strained in the post-college years, and what makes this novel a kind of “period piece.”

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Two new murder mystery novels let readers into hidden worlds: one underground and the other among the wives of serial killers. First, Ruby Falls begins in 1928 in Chattanooga, Tennessee when a man discovers a mysterious underground cavern and waterfall. In today’s episode, NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with Gin Phillips about the publicity stunt that sets her story in motion. Then, Lizzie Pook chats with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives – published under the pen name Elizabeth Arnott – in which three women find each other after their husbands’ crimes are uncovered.

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Author Daisy Hernández grew up in New Jersey in a community she describes as “the United Nations of Latinos,” with parents from Cuba and Colombia and relatives from Puerto Rico and Peru. Her new book Citizenship uses her family story to trace the history of citizenship in the United States. In today’s episode, she speaks with NPR’s Emily Kwong about the concept of “social citizenship” and why American citizenship fails to fit into a fixed legal definition.

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Cara Bastone says she wanted to write a book filled with miscommunications that couldn’t be solved with a quick conversation. In her novel No Matter What, Roz and Vin navigate a changing relationship after the couple endures a traumatic accident. In today’s episode, Bastone speaks with NPR’s Juana Summers about developing characters who look like “normal people,” writing her husband into her work, and why there are so many contemporary novels about separation and divorce.

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After the death of her father, sociologist and law professor Dorothy Roberts decided to sort through his boxes. What she found was an archive of notes related to his research on interracial marriage, which he saw as a means to dismantle white supremacy. Roberts’ new memoir The Mixed Marriage Project chronicles her confrontation with her father’s research – and her role in it; she herself was the product of her parents’ mixed marriage. In today’s episode, she speaks with NPR’s Michel Martin about this trove of interviews with interracial couples and Roberts’ questions about her own family history.

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Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent became a runaway hit for its exploration of a life told through letters. When readers meet Sybil Van Antwerp she’s in her 70s, and she takes readers on a journey through her various correspondences — which include names as revered as Joan Didion and Ann Patchett. But Sybil isn’t telling us everything, and her clever prose might hide as much as it reveals. In today’s episode, author Virginia Evans joins Here and Now’s Robin Young to discuss the value of correspondence, and how the book’s success has changed the letter-writing industry itself.

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To mark Women’s History Month, today’s episode features new books focused on women who have paved the way for gender equality. First, journalist Norah O’Donnell documents untold stories in American history in We the Women, written in collaboration with Kate Andersen Brower. In today’s episode, O’Donnell tells NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about lesser-known female heroes, like the woman who printed the Declaration of Independence and a female soldier who fought in the American Revolution. Then, activist Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee speak with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about their new children’s book, Rise, Girl, Rise.

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In today’s episode, Elizabeth Day describes the protagonist in her new novel One of Us as the “quintessential outsider.” Martin Gilmour came from a difficult background, but won a scholarship to an elite boarding school in England. There, he befriends an aristocratic boy named Ben who will later ask Martin to keep an important secret. One of Us follows the implosion of their friendship – and Martin’s discretion – as Ben strives for political power. In today’s episode, Day and NPR’s Scott Simon discuss the novel’s central rivalry and Day’s interest in the Boris Johnson era of British politics.

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While researching a previous book, a mushroom trip in Michael Pollan’s garden left him curious about the boundaries of consciousness. His latest project A World Appears explores the mystery of human consciousness through scientific, philosophical and psychedelic frameworks. In today’s episode, Pollan talks with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about the sentience of plants and animals vs. our own. They also discuss “lantern” vs. “spotlight” consciousness, AI and why Pollan sees the computer as a faulty metaphor for the human brain.

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Lillian Li says Bad Asians was drawn from her upbringing in a hypercompetitive Chinese-American community. In the novel, four 20-somethings, who grew up in a similar environment, confront the challenges of the 2008 financial crisis and begin to let loose. Their former classmate documents their frustrations in what becomes one of the first viral YouTube videos. In today’s episode, Li speaks with Here & Now’s Scott Tong about the initial privacy of the early internet, exploding Asian American stereotypes, and why she wanted to write about friendship.

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